Terminal strip and process for producing the same

ABSTRACT

A terminal strip comprises a U-shaped bar of insulating material having a rib and two branches with soldering tags outwardly extending from the branches.

United States Patent [1 1 A 1 96,923

Johansson et a]. Mar. 12, 1974 TERMINAL STRIP AND PROCESS FOR [51] Int.Cl. H02b 9/00 PRODUCING THE SAME [58] Field of Search 174/68.5, 72 A;338/18 C,

[75] Inventors: Gustav Gunnar Johansson, 338/19; 317/118 122; 339/198 RHuddinge, Sweden; Birger Roat Jorgensen, Tikob, Denmark; Folke [56]References Cited Teodor Mogestad, Stockholm; UNITED STATES PATENTS ThyskRune N115 Anders 3,002,177 9/1961 Bundy 174 72 A Skarholmen, both ofSweden 3,088,055 4/1963 Schwing 317/122 3,441,806 4/1969 Schwing 317/122[73] Asslgnee' Telehnakt'ebdaget LM 3,362,005 l/1968 Corns 339 19 xStockholm, Sweden [22] Filed: Sept- 7, 1972 Primary Examiner-Darrell L.Clay [2]] Appl No 287 071 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Heme, Baxley andSpiecens 57 ABSTRACT [30] F orelgn Appllcatlon Prlonty Data A terminalstrip comprises a U-shaped bar of insulat- Sept. 10, 1971 Sweden11549/71 material ha ing a and o branches with sol- 52 us. 01 317/122,174/72 A, 317/118, dermg tags utwardly lextendmg mm the branches 339/198R 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SHEET 1 [IF 2 PATENTEI] MAR l 2 I974llIllIllIll TERMINAL STRIP AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME Thepresent invention relates to a terminal strip or the like of the typewhich is preferably intended for automatic telephone exchanges and moreparticularly for interconnections to be made from the multiple fields ofgroup selectors and the like.

Terminal blocks in telephone exchanges are to a great extent made ofterminal strips consisting of rectangular bars of insulating material,in which are provided soldering tags. The terminal blocks also havedifferent flutes and guides arranged between the terminal strips,so-called wire guides for assembling and guiding the wires which areconnected to the soldering tags of the terminal strips. These terminalblocks take up large space in the racks included in a telephoneexchange, while at the same time they must be within reach from bothside of the rack. An object of the present invention is to provide aterminal strip which occupies relatively small space and whicheliminates the demand for flutes and guides.

The invention will be described more fully in the following detaileddescription when read with the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1shows a terminal strip in cross-section,

FIG. 2 shows a part of the terminal strip in plan view while FIG. 3shows the same part in side view, and

FIG. 4 shows a group of terminal members.

In FIG. 1 which shows the terminal strip in crosssection, a bar ofinsulating material is indicated by reference 1, formed as a U-shapedflute comprising a rib and two branches. A terminal member cast into thebar is indicated by reference 2, the end parts 3a and 3b of which areformed into soldering tags and are arranged on the outsides of the twobranches. In FIG. 2 a part of the terminal strip is shown in plan viewand with a part of the terminal members uncovered. The terminal membersare punched from metal ribbons and are connected to each other duringthe production in groups of six by means of bridges 4, which, when theterminal strip is completed, are punched or bored away through holes 5in the strip.

FIG. 3 shows in side view the same part of the terminal strip as FIG. 2.The soldering tags 3 of the terminal members are arranged in rows andcolumns. The columns form an angle with the edges of the strip, makingit possible to use bare wire connections with straight conductorsbetween the soldering tags belonging to the same row as well as betweensimilar placed tags in strips arranged above each other. Furthermore,notches 6 are arranged in the branches of the terminal strip in order tomake it possible to connect the conductors which are drawn inside thecable-flute formed strip to the soldering tags.

As mentioned above the terminal members are punched from a metal band orribbon, and form also after the punching, a band since they areconnected with each other by means of bridges 4. The terminal members insuch a band are then divided in groups comprising six members. FIG. 4shows such a group. Before the casting into the strip, the group goesthrough two bending operations. The first bending occurs along the linesBB, the soldering tags 3 being bent at right angles from the observer.In the second bending along the lines A--A the end parts are bent atright angles towards the observer. After the two bending as is apparentin FIG. 1 and 3 each of the soldering tags within the group lies in adifferent level compared with the central parts of the terminal membersin such a manner that the soldering tag which lies highest in the onebranch of the strip is connected to the one which lies lowest in theopposite branch of the strip and vice versa. This technique permits theuse of only one type of terminal members. The technique also permits thesoldering tags at the initial punching to form an angle with the centralparts of the members so that the soldering tags can have a width whichis as large as or larger than the space graduat between the members.

The design of the strip can of course be varied within wide limits andstill fall within the scope of the invention. Instead of producing thestrip with terminal members cast in the strip these can be put ingrooves in the strip. The strip is then cast preferably in the form ofan oblong plate of thermoplastic with transverse grooves for theterminal members in which grooves openings for the soldering tags arearranged. The terminal member groups are bent only along the lines B-Bbefore they are put in the intended grooves. The oblong plate isfurthermore provided with line-formed notches at the transition betweenrib and branches of the strip, along which notches the plate as well asthe terminal members are bent in the same operation at a suitabletemperature with reference to the plastic material in the plate.

We claim:

1. A terminal strip comprising a channel member of insulating materialdefining a channel for cables, said channel member having a rib and twobranches such that the cross-section of the channel member is U- shaped,at least one group of parallel terminal conductors within said channelmember, each of said conductors extending within each branch and the ribin a direction transverse to the axis of the channel member, and each ofthe ends of each of said terminal connectors being a soldering tagportion extending perpendicular to the branch and in a direction awayfrom the channel defined by said channel member.

2. The terminal strip of claim 1 wherein the soldering tag portionsextending from one branch are progressively positioned at differentincreasing distances from the rib whereas the soldering tag portionsextending from the other branch are progressively positioned in theopposite order at different increasing distances from the rib.

3. The terminal strip of claim 2 wherein each branch is provided with atleast one opening per group of parallel terminal conductors to permitthe passage of cable from within the defined channel to the solderingtags.

4. The terminal strip of claim 1 further comprising bridgesinterconnecting the portions of the terminal conductors within said rib,and guide means in said rib for locating each of said bridges so thatthe bridges can be opened at a later time to electrically separate theparallel conductors from each other.

1. A terminal strip comprising a channel member of insulating materialdefining a channel for cables, said channel member having a rib and twobranches such that the cross-section of the channel member is U-shaped,at least one group of parallel terminal conductors within said channelmember, each of said conductors extending within each branch and the ribin a direction transverse to the axis of the channel member, and each ofthe ends of each of said terminal connectors being a soldering tagportion extending perpendicular to the branch and in a direction awayfrom the channel defined by said channel member.
 2. The terminal stripof claim 1 wherein the soldering tag portions extending from one branchare progressively positioned at different increasing distances from therib whereas the soldering tag portions extending from the other branchare progressively positioned in the opposite order at differentincreasing distances from the rib.
 3. The terminal strip of claim 2wherein each branch is provided with at least one opening per group ofparallel terminal conductors to permit the passage of cable from withinthe defined channel to the soldering tags.
 4. The terminal strip ofclaim 1 further comprising bridges interconnecting the portions of theterminal conductors within said rib, and guide means in said rib forlocating each of said bridges so that the bridges can be opened at alater time to electrically separate the parallel conductors from eachother.